Next, you have to make sure that you have a good sauce to cook them in.

Then it’s all about the roll…List people, it’s all in the wrist. You gotta take the meat in your hand and gently roll the ball…

Then it’s just a factor of time. You need to let the balls simmer. Sometimes I even bake ’em overnight:

But trust me, the longer you let ’em go, the better.

Confused?

Well you shouldn’t be….making meatballs isn’t that hard! Trust me, if you start now it might seem wet and unsatisfying at first, but by Tuesday morning I promise you that you’ll be eating MEATBALLS!

]]>http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/meatballs/feed/0http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/meatballs/Man of Many Moodshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FamousInternetSkiers/~3/TO0Ji0XpZTc/
http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/man-of-many-moods/#commentsMon, 24 Oct 2016 12:00:43 +0000http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/?p=18811Sunday October 23rd was a fun day on Mansfield in Northern Vermont.

It started off with 11+ inches of snow atop the summit, and many a man and woman merrily made marks.

Pow Turns was [sic. bro] there!

Grrrrr!

As the day wore on, and legs became tired, it was time to stop thinking about schuss (for a moment), and take a breather to fawn for our favorite fall feature: SNOWLIAGE!

It was a beautiful afternoon to drive around and enjoy the many moods of Mansfield. We hope you enjoyed it too!

Hopefully the mood of his that we’ll be seeing more of soon is cold and wintery!

]]>http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/man-of-many-moods/feed/5http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/man-of-many-moods/The Hidden Woman of Héraðsvötnhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FamousInternetSkiers/~3/XQd1HRKg-fA/
http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/the-hidden-woman-of-heradsvotn/#commentsMon, 07 Mar 2016 12:40:27 +0000http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/?p=18784A farmer named Halldór and his wife Helga had two sons: Sigurd who was 7, and þordúrr who was 6. Just south of their farm there was a gravel hillock that fell into the Héraðsvötn river. At one point along the hillock there was a sheer drop. The two boys liked rolling rocks down this drop. The Héraðsvötn had a pool below it, and the rocks made a splash.

Helga liked to lay down to rest after finishing morning chores, and one day she did just that. After she fell asleep she thought a woman came to her wearing a black cloak. The woman was average height, angry, and rather corpulent. The woman said: “I would ask you good woman to take better care of your sons, and not to let them roll rocks around my home, and drive my children mad with fright.” The woman left, and Helga woke up.

Helga went outside and saw her two boys rolling rocks off the hillock into the Héraðsvötn. She said: “Stop doing that because you could fall into the Héraðsvötn after your rocks.”

A few days later, Helga laid down to rest as usual, and dreamed that the same woman came to her again, but even more angry. The woman said: “your boys are still troubling me and my children, and you’ll be sorry if you do not make them stop.”

Helga woke up, went outside, and saw her two boys rolling rocks into the Héraðsvötn. She called to them and promised a thrashing if she caught them doing it again. She ordered them back into the house.

Three days later Helga once again laid down to fall asleep after the morning chores. Just as she was about to fall asleep she heard someone enter the baðstofa who said: “Helga go outside and find your boys.”

Helga got up and went outside. þordúrr was standing on the hillock, and Sigurd was on the ground next to him. Helga picked up Sigurd, telling him: “get up.” His body was limp though, and he was unable to speak.

Helga carried Sigurd home while giving þordúrr a scolding. Sigurd lived for four more days, and on the fifth day he died. þordúrr grew into a strong and prosperous man; he had three children, one of whom is still alive.

Ed note: This story was adapted from:

Sigmundsdóttir, Alda. The Little Book of the Hidden People. Reykjavík: Enska Textasmiðjan, 2015.

Pictured is the east couloir of Hólkotshyma (AKA “Hotel Hill”), a few kilometers south of Ólafsfjörður, Iceland.

]]>http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/the-hidden-woman-of-heradsvotn/feed/1http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/the-hidden-woman-of-heradsvotn/We’re With The Bandhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FamousInternetSkiers/~3/jFaI99oHRHs/
http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/were-with-the-band/#commentsThu, 07 Jan 2016 17:58:29 +0000http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/?p=18746I don’t have to tell you animals that the most epic shows are wherever The Band sets up. Want to catch a killer show? Hit the road, and follow The Band.

Sometimes The Band throws down a show at a smaller venue for the groupies out in the American heartland.

The Effect can be unreal.

Other times The Band goes all international and books a big stadium near a city for a well publicized show.

Très bon

But maybe the most fun shows of all are those serendipitous ones; when you’re in town for another reason, and The Band turns up almost as if its following you rather than the other way around.

You weren’t quite ready to party, but you get your shit together as fast as you can.

As the show relentlessly falls, things can get a little blurry.

The whole show storm is so unexpected, you might even think you’re in a dream…

It is how I’m wired. Being a lawyer certainly reinforces it. I research, analyze, review and plan. I define the options, weigh the contingencies, have alternative strategies, document the known unknowns and unknown unknowns, develop a BATNA and plan for the worst. Thus, surprise, is antithetical to my daily experience. If I get “surprised,” more often than not, something has gone horribly (and expensively) wrong.

Trieste, Slovenia and Croatia surprised me. ( I went there, and this is a Trip Report).

And I loved it.

I’ve wanted to go to Slovenia for a long time. It’s a small country with a long history. Documented settlements date back to the Roman empire, and cave dwellings further back than that. Moreover, like other interesting parts of this world, Slovenia has had many “mothers” over its history. In just the last few hundred years it has been partof the Ottoman empire, the Austrian-Hungarian empire, the Italian states and incorporated into Yugoslavia. Tucked up against the high limestone eastern Alps,with a broad fertile plain and connection to the sea, Slovenia has always been a crossroads between the west and east. I’m the moth, that’s the flame.

Surprise though began in Trieste, a good gateway to Slovenia. Like Slovenia, Trieste Italy has had a long blended history. At times it has been controlled by Romans, Venetians, Austrians, Italians, and even was an independent state.

I mean are we in Italy?

Or are we in Austria?

It’s hard to tell. And frankly, I didn’t care once I realized that the marriage of Italy and Austria-Hungry resulted in such wonderful things as cold Aperol Spritz’s with salty snacks at 4 p.m. (and 2pm and 3pm and 5pm…and 11 am).

After a few days it was time to move on to some cooler (or so we thought) mountains. Surprise, they weren’t cool. Surprise they were awesome. Six days of trekking through the Julian Alps was a blur of fantastic vistas, punishing sun, homemade food, full-service mountain huts and grappa.

If you keep walking you get to a pretty awesome hut with no running water and only crowded stinky (seriously stinky) dorm accommodations. Surprise, nobody cared.

Towards the end of the trip, we wandered into an area that had seen some of the heaviest fighting in World War I. There are old stone bunkers, field hospitals and barracks all over the mountains in this area, including along the old front lines which ran along the ridgeline of some the highest mountains.

Let me repeat that: they fought a war on knife-edge ridges 7000ft in the sky. In the 19-teens. All year long. Wearing only wool and with no advil. Surprise, we’re wimps.

Following a boot explosion (grrr) it was time to leave the mountains. Wanting to check out Ljubljana, and thinking a hot shower would be valuable to maintain relationship bliss, we headed that way. While we had a an auspicious introduction to Ljubljana (the original hotel we booked was wedged between a stone crushing operation and a used auto car dealership and across the street from a derelict farm and monument to fallen communist brethren of the great Yugoslav Republic… Booking.com app to the rescue) Ljubljana would come to simply blow me away.

On a picture perfect late summer night, Ljubljana came alive in the way only a European city can. By 4pm it seemed the entire city had decided it was time to relax. Cafés all throughout the old cobblestone town center were packed with stunning (seriously everybody is extremely attractive here) locals enjoying a macchiato, an aperol spritz or a glass or two of exceptional local Slovenian wine.

Walking around the city fueled by Slovenian wine and macchiatos, the city revealed itself to us.

After a few days of this, it was time to head into Croatia.

The Istrian sections of Croatia are another one of those ancient parts of the world that have had many “mothers” over time. More Italy than Croatia, I only knew Istria was a place because the Mirna river valley is renowned for its truffles. I had no idea I was about to visit a cheaper, cleaner, less crowded and more welcoming version of Tuscany. Surprise.

Istria really feels like Tuscany.

Now, if you only hit the well known highlights you’ll miss the true magic of Istria. We were tipped off by a Ljubljana local to pull off the main road and follow the signs to any one of the many small konobas (taverns) that dot the farm roads. These small family eateries are often overlooked by tourists because they sit away from the hilltop town centers, have small hand-painted signs, take no credit cards, and don’t appear in any guidebooks. But, take my advice: find one. You’ll be rewarded with a homemade meal absolutely smothered in local truffles, local organic olive oil and local white wine.

Oh, and it will cost about as much as your last dinner at Chipotle.

Once we finished stuffing ourselves with truffles and pasta, we went to explore the Istria coast. More tourist-y than interior Istria, the Istrian coast is still rather undeveloped compared to the Southern Croatian coast (i.e. Split, Kings Landing, Dubrovnik, and the islands of Brac and Ceres).

Despite the prevalence of northern Europeans who still haven’t quite nailed the “sunblock” thing, its hard not to be in surprised and awed by the beauty that results from medieval stone buildings bracketed by a deep azure sky and sparking cyan sea.

After soaking in this beauty for a few days it was time to head home. But not before one last surprise.

]]>http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/winter-is-coming-but-first-more-summer/feed/5http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/winter-is-coming-but-first-more-summer/VTah Part IX: The Goodest Snow on Earth!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FamousInternetSkiers/~3/K1QmzKl-mUA/
http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/vtah-part-ix-the-goodest-snow-on-earth/#commentsFri, 20 Feb 2015 14:27:06 +0000http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/?p=18681This blog has always frowned at the superlative degree of comparison. It’s not because we are party-poopers or Debby-downers. It’s because we love skiing on the East Coast, and we firmly believe that when a noisy authority resorts to phrases like “all-time” or “best ever” or “as good as it gets”, it’s a disservice to all that is East Coast Schuss. We’ve had a great 45 days of skiing since New Years Day, and maybe it’ll continue, but this isn’t all-time; this is above average, but well within the range of usual outcomes.

You’ll notice this is VTah Part IX, not VTah Part All-Time; this is one chapter in a long long history of a region that–for whatever reason–everyone thinks has shitty skiing but doesn’t. We wag our finger at the “all-time” standards bearers not because we don’t like those people, but because we are in love with the skiing here. These photos of good skiing and good snow and good times are our humble testament to the fact that in these modest Green Mountains of Vermont–dwarfed by Earth’s great ranges and yet the cradle of North American skiing–every once in a while we have the goodest skiing in the world. Every once in a while we have another VTah.

Git Sum (moar)

]]>http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/vtah-part-ix-the-goodest-snow-on-earth/feed/9http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/vtah-part-ix-the-goodest-snow-on-earth/Mark it “FD”http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FamousInternetSkiers/~3/QSQce8GDg_o/
http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/mark-it-fd/#commentsWed, 11 Feb 2015 13:14:10 +0000http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/?p=18630Recently, while out tromping around the neighborhood I noticed a new land-slide on this mountain with a Vermont State Quarter on it. I think this is the slide’s first Winter.

And that got me thinking about really important questions, like:

– At what elevation do deer turn into elk?

– Why did the Romans make so many ruined buildings?

– How many vertical feet does a ski line need to have for it to count as an FD?

For the last one, the only way to know is to try. So, I went out and I skied it. Because, what else do I have to do with my life?

That’s 2 minutes of your life you’re not getting back. This descent may or may not be a First; I won’t claim what I can’t know. But I’m gonna go ahead and claim the (other) FD, the Final Descent, since no one should come after me. Go ahead and mark it. Thanks.

Unless of course one of you want to go out and claim the (other) FD for yourselves. I’ve got a big fresh High Five for you if you do. Git sum.

First, it is going to snow Tuesday into Wednesday. And the pieces are in place for it to keep snowing (in the mtns) at least Wednesday night into Thursday. And then likely Thursday into Friday. That’s all well and good and really awesome. In theory.
Well, the weather gods or the old gods or the whatever gods say fuck theory and give you the sloppy wack-a-do mess of a storm that is on our doorstep.

So lets break this down.

Today, a low pressure center is going to move north by northwest (already weird) and interact with a large trough dropping out of Canada.

In the current analysis you can see the large upper level trough and surface low very clearly.

500mb:

surface:

Last week I thought this “phasing” would not occur until the trough (well the critical exit region of the jet associated with the apex of the trough) was offshore to our east. I expected the cold high pressure of today (Monday) to be a little less french and resist movement. Nope.

As the oceanic low pressure interacts with the trough today, upper level divergence will spark surface deepening and rapid strengthening. This will wrap the system up into a tight little ball that will track towards Long Island during the day Tuesday.

Tuesday into Wed. AM:

The first signature of this storm will be a VERY strong wind anomaly drawing air and moisture in from the east and moving towards the west. This is typical in coastal low pressure systems as part of the triple jet structure, however in this case the west-flowing oceanic mid level jet will be very strong and draw an extraordinary amount of Atlantic moisture into the system.

The result is a very heavy slug of precipitation at the outset of the system. Given that temperatures will be cold enough through out the whole column of air for m the Northeast Mtns (Cats, Berks, So. VT, Nor. VT, Maine, NH) for this first round of moisture to be mostly all wet snow. So beginning Tuesday mid-day and progressing through Wednesday AM the N/E will see a period of heavy snowfall, 1-2″ an hour at times. By Wednesday am, a widespread 8-12″ is likely.

If the story ended there, we’d all be happy. There would be much rejoicing. I prob. also would have ranted at the outset of this post. (Ok, I might have). Our story gets weird from here.

Instead of tracking northeast as coastal lows are want to do, this one will occlude and be drawn in under the upper level (500mb) low center. THis is the second signature of this storm. As the low does this, it will moves westward in over Mass, NH and So. VT. This will push a nose of warm mid-level air into the Northeast on Wednesday.

Areas to the east of the low pressure center will see temps move above freezing. Areas to the west (ADK) will likely see the column remain mostly cool. Where the boundary sets up between YEA! and Sad Trombone will be somewhere over VT.

Right now it looks like maybe that line wavers back and forth over the spine. My best guess though is that during the day Wednesday, that line sets up west of the spine. This isn’t a very moisture rich movement so the result will likely be generally light mixed precip. and drizzle over the “warm areas” and light snow back west of the ADK.

Once the surface and mid-level low pressure centers cut-off and stack under the upper level low, we say it has become “vertically stacked” and generally stagnant. From Wednesday night to Thursday our lil’ buddy will sit and spin as a stacked cut-off low over VT. Though it will be cut off under much cooler air as the strong flow of air from the east as been cut off.

During this period, an impulse will interact with the low and spark a round of heavier precip. to the west of the low (likely the Northern ADK) and generally light snow showers will persist as the moist rotating low interacts with mountains and some minimal upward lift occurs. The best chance for this to happen will be Thursday night as the center of the low moves eastward and the prevailing flow turns North/Northwest and some real orographic signatures begin to show up.

The low will exit the region on Friday and clearing skies likely for the weekend.

So what does all this add up to?

Snow by Wednesday mid-day likely a widespread 8-12, with some pockets a little higher down by the Catskills, and maybe Western Maine, and along with the high elevation ADK.

Additional snow through Thursday mid-day – Mostly drizzle/snizzle with possibility for more (2-4″) in the Northern ADK.

Additional snow Thursday night – Friday AM – Likely a few more inches widespread in the ADK and Nor. VT with the most in orographic favored areas.

Now, there is a somewhat reasonable historical analog to this storm. In late February/Early March 2010 two storms moved in off the coast like this one and just PASTED the Northeast. I use “pasted” because it was pure paste. Like 2.5″ of water resulting in 18″ of snow. The place that did the best, in that event? The Catskills and the ADK where enough northerly cold air was drawn in to allow the mess to remain a snowy mess. Will this play out the same way? Possibly.